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The roundabout was constructed according to the design of Frank Blackmore,[3] of the British Transport and Road Research Laboratory, under the control of Traffic Engineer Raymond Harper of Swindon Borough Council. Traffic flow around the larger, inner roundabout is anticlockwise, and traffic flows in the usual clockwise manner around the five mini-roundabouts and the outer loop.

The complex junction offers multiple paths between feeder roads. The outermost circle carries traffic in a clockwise direction, like a regular roundabout (in places where traffic drives on the left hand side of the road), and less proficient users may choose to use only the outermost circle. The innermost circle carries traffic in a counterclockwise direction, and more proficient users may choose to use the alternative paths.[4]

Virtually the same overall configuration has been in place for 42 years.

When the roundabout complex was first opened, the mini-roundabouts were not permanently marked out and could be reconfigured while the layout was fine tuned. A police officer was stationed at each mini roundabout during this pilot phase to oversee how drivers coped with the unique arrangement.

The roundabout is built over a section of the old Wilts and Berks Canal – Swindon wharf. A narrow, stone bridge built c. 1810, which is a grade II listed building,[5] carried the old Saxon way known as Drove Road over the canal half a mile east of the town centre. Its site became covered by Drove Roundabout, which was later redeveloped as the Magic Roundabout. A wharf occupied one edge and the area was known as The Marsh. The Wilts and Berks Canal Trust are currently in negotiations with Swindon Council to include in the New Swindon Regeneration Framework plans to restore the canal through the town centre. The restoration would utilise the route of the North Wilts Canal and not the main West Vale route that the Magic Roundabout sits over. The North Wilts Canal was a separate branch which exited the town northwards through Moredon.

The official name of the roundabout used to be County Islands, but it was changed in the late 1980s to match its popular name. It inspired the song "English Roundabout", a pop song by the Swindon band XTC, which was recorded for their 1982 album English Settlement.

In 2005, it was voted the worst roundabout in a survey by a UK insurance company.[6] In September 2007, the Magic Roundabout was named as one of the World's Worst Junctions by a UK motoring magazine.[7] In December 2007, BBC News reported a survey identifying The Magic Roundabout as one of the "10 Scariest Junctions in the United Kingdom";[8] however, the roundabout provides a better throughput of traffic than other designs and has an excellent safety record, since traffic moves too slowly to do serious damage in the event of a collision.[9]

^"A counterflow roundabout". Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Tourists should follow the red path; keep in the Outer Circle all the way round and leave the yellow "Pro Driver Path" to the locals, who have roundabouts in their blood and know where they are going.